The Public Participation Convention and Export Credit Agencies

This research paper by Claudia Saladin for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) analyzes the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Public Participation Convention) and argues that its transparency and accountability requirements should apply to export credit agencies (ECAs).

• The Public Participation Convention is structured around three primary pillars: access to environmental information, the right of the public to participate in environmental decision-making, and access to an independent and impartial review process to address infringed rights.
• The Convention establishes a presumption in favor of disclosing environmental information. Public authorities may only deny requests based on specific grounds, some of which are qualified; for instance, commercial confidentiality can only be used for refusal if it is "protected by law in order to protect a legitimate economic interest".
• Procedural requirements for decision-making vary by activity. Article 6 mandates the most comprehensive requirements for activities likely to significantly affect the environment, such as the construction of a power plant, requiring that notice be provided early enough for effective participation and that final decisions be written and state their reasons.
• Access to justice under the Convention includes the right to challenge denials of information and the legality of decisions on specific activities. While NGOs are deemed to have sufficient interest for these challenges, the ability to challenge general violations of national environmental law is more limited and subject to potentially restrictive national standing requirements.
• The author argues that export credit agencies (ECAs) should be subject to the Convention because they are government agencies and their activities, particularly financing or insuring projects listed in Annex I, impact the environment.
• The Convention does not apply directly to multilateral development banks (MDBs), but it requires Parties to promote the Convention's principles within international organizations and environmental decision-making processes.
• As of the writing, the Convention has not entered into force because it requires ratification by 16 countries. While 40 countries and the European Community have signed, none had ratified as of the report's data; notably, the United States and Canada are not signatories.
• The mechanism for monitoring compliance is described as "extremely weak" because any compliance review arrangements must be established on a consensus basis and remain optional, allowing countries to opt out.

APA

Saladin, C. (n.d.). The Public Participation Convention and Export Credit Agencies. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ppceca.pdf

Chicago

Saladin, Claudia. The Public Participation Convention and Export Credit Agencies. Center for International Environmental Law, n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ppceca.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Saladin |first1=Claudia |title=The Public Participation Convention and Export Credit Agencies |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ppceca.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{saladinndpublic, author = {Saladin, Claudia}, title = {{The Public Participation Convention and Export Credit Agencies}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ppceca.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }